Car.



No. 775,490. PATENTED NOV. 22, 1904.

' P. E. HOBBS. I

GAR.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29, 1904.

no MODEL.

being bolted to the draft-timbers.

UNITED STATES Patented November 22, 1904.

FRANCIS E. HOBBS, OF (JENTRALIA, ILLINOIS.

CAR.

SPECIFICATION fo ming part of Le ters Patent N 0. 775,490, dated November 22, 1904.

Application filed March 28, 1904.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANCIS E. HOBBS, acitizen of the United States, residing at Centralia, in the county of Marion and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Cars, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description.

My invention relates to a railway-car, and more particularly to freight-cars of the box type.

The object is to provide a construction such that repairs may be readily made on the draftrigging and end sills, where breaks are most likely to occur, without making it necessary to remove the contents of the car or to work from the inside of the car.

I will describe my invention particularly by reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the preferred embodiment thereof.-

Figure l is a longitudinal sectional view of a portion of the end of the car, showing my improved method of supporting the draft-timbers. Fig. 2 is a cross-section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of one of the iron false sills which I provide at the end of the car; and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the framework of the car at the end, showing my improved construction.

The same letters of reference are used to designate the same parts wherever they are shown.

When accidents occur to box-cars, it is noticed that the parts usually broken are at the end of the car near the draft-rigging. For example, the draft-timbers may be broken. The bolts fastening the draft-timbers to the sills are very frequently broken or come loose, and it also frequently happens that the end sill of the car will be broken because of its In the latter case a large hole or opening will often be made in the end of the car through which the contents, such as grain, may be lost. To re pair breaks of this kind, and more particularly to replace or refasten' the draft-timbers, it has heretofore been necessary to remove the contents of the car, at least at the injured end, and work from the inside of the car, the bolts fastening the draft-timbers to the censupport the floor d of the car.

Serial No. 200,285. (No model.)

tral sills passing down through the floor of the car, through the sill, and through the drafttimber in the order named.

In accordance with my invention an iron false sill is provided for supporting the floor of the car at the end, this false sill a, as shown in Fig. 1, resting upon the regular sill b. There are preferably two of these iron false sills resting upon the two central wooden sills to which the draft-timbers c 0 are secured. Each sill may be made of a bent iron plate and comprises a vertical web a, a horizontal flange a resting upon the main wooden sill b, and .an inclined upper flange 0 adapted to The upper flanges (1/ of the false sills are preferably inclined, as shown, so that the floor of the car resting upon them will simply have a gradual slope upward at the end of the car, the slope beginning, say, five feet from the end.

The other longitudinal sills of the car besides the two central ones which carry the drafttimber may be provided with inclined false sills corresponding to the iron false sills; but these may be of wood. The bolts 0 e, which secure the draft-timbers in place, pass through said timbers and through the sills b b in the usual way; but thebolts terminate and are provided with nuts just above the lower flange a of the false sill a. The head of the bolt may be located on the under side of the drafttimber or may be threaded at both ends and provided with nuts, as shown. With this construction if the draft-timbers 0 0 should become broken and require to be replaced or if the bolts should be broken or become loose it will be seen that the bolts may be replaced from below the car without requiring the contents of the carto be disturbed and without requiring the bolts to be inserted through the floor of the car. The bolts may be passed upward from below through the holes in the wooden sills and the nuts screwed on above the lower flange a of the false sill, the space, between the upper and lower flanges of this sill being accessible from below to permit the securing of the nuts, as'will be evident. I also provide a double end sill for the car'- that is to say, the main end sill f will be provided, as usual, to which the dead-block g is bolted, and immediately above the main end sill f will be an upper end sill, which will rest upon the lower end sill, but preferably will not be bolted thereto and will carry the uprights or posts in at the end of the car, as

the main sill has done heretofore.

The siding h of the car at the end will preferably rest against and be fastened to the upper end sill It, and the iron false sills will also preferably be bolted to said upper end sill. The upper flange a of the iron false sill is extended over and bolted to the upper end sill k, and the vertical web a of the bent plate forming the false sill is also turned over at the end to form a vertical flange a, adapted to abut against the inner side of the upper end sill and to be bolted thereto.

The advantage of having an upper end sill separate from the lower or main end sill is, first, that this lends itself readily to my improved construction in which the floor of the car is sloped upward and supported on false sills, and, second, in case of an injury to the end of the car the lower end sill f may be broken without breaking the upper end sill and so without making a hole in the car through which the contents might be lost.

I claim 1. In a railway-car,the combination with the central longitudinal main sill, of iron false sills at the ends of the car, said false sills having lower flanges resting upon the main sills, longitudinally-inclined upper flanges carrying the flooring of the car, and vertical web portions uniting said upper and lower flanges, draft-timbers secured to the under sides of said main sills, and bolts passing through said draft-timbers, and main sills and through the lower flanges of the false sills, nuts being provided for said bolts above said lower flanges of the false sills; whereby said bolts may be inserted and repairs made from below the floor I of the can".

said main end sills, and carrying the upper body portion of the end of the car, longitudinally-inclined false sills at the end of the car, resting upon the longitudinal main sills and joining said upper end sills and sloping downward to the longitudinal mainsills, flooring resting across said false sills, and draft-timbers bolted to said longitudinal main sills; substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. A false sill for railway-cars comprising an iron plate having a lower horizontal flange .portion, a longitudinally-inclined upper horizontal flange sloping downward from the end until it meets said lower horizontal flange, and a vertical web portion uniting said flanges, the upper flange being extended at the end beyond the vertical web, and adapted to lie against the endvsill of the car and to be secured thereto; substantially as set forth.

4:. In car construction, the combination with the center longitudinal sills and the draft-timbers, of iron false sills resting upon said center 'sills, said false sills having upper and lower horizontal flanges and web portions uniting said flanges, bolts passing upward through said draft-timbers and center sills and through the lower flanges of said false sills, said bolts being secured to said lower flanges, and floor ing resting across said false sills; whereby the draft-timbers may be repaired and secured in place from below the car, as set forth.

5. In railway-car construction,the combination with the longitudinal sills, of draft-timbers bolted to the center sills, false sills at the ends of the car, resting upon said longitudinal sills, and flooring resting across said false sills above said center sills; whereby said drafttimbers and their bolts may be placed and secured from below the flooring without requiring access to the interior of the car, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my name this 23d day of March, A. D. 1904.

FRANCIS E. HOBBS.

Witnesses:

DE WITT C. TANNER, W. W. LEAoH. 

